The Allentown Catholic Diocese announced yesterday that it has dissociated itself from Casa Guadalupe after the social services agency decided not to exclude referrals for abortion, sterilization or artificial birth control from the obstetric services it plans to provide at a new community OB/ GYN clinic.

The announcement ended a 24-year relationship that began when Casa was founded by the diocese in the late 1970s and continued in the form of an annual grant and nominal endorsement even after Casa broadened its mission and became nondenominational and independent of the Catholic church.

"For some 24 years," the diocese announced in a news release, "the relationship between the Casa and the Diocese of Allentown had continued in a positive vein. Unfortunately, the Casa board has recently adopted a change in program services which are completely contrary to the original intent of the Casa and at odds with the teachings of the (Roman) Catholic Church.... As a result of this decision by the Casa board ... the diocese will no longer be able to support or be affiliated with the operations of Casa Guadalupe."

The decision was made by Bishop Thomas J. Welsh of the Allentown Diocese, according to the Rev. John McCann, one of four who resigned from the Casa Guadalupe board of directors over the issue.

The conflict arose when Casa decided to provide on-site prenatal care at its facility on Linden Street as part of a partnership with Lehigh Valley Hospital and as an extension of its Women, Infants and Children assistance program. The services will include prenatal care and possibly postpartum counseling, according to Casa board President Elisabeth Crago.

While the board was discussing the new clinic, Crago said, some board members asked for assurance that contraception methods other than the rhythm method will not be discussed during postpartum counseling.

"The physicians and nurse practitioners at Lehigh Valley Hospital were not able to say if that issue came up we could not discuss it," Crago said.

Crago said Casa was unwilling to interfere in the confidential relationship between patients and health professionals by mandating what the practitioners at the clinic could and could not discuss with patients.

"After much deliberation ... the majority of the board came to the decision that we're there to provide services to the patients" and not to interfere with medical and personal decisions, Crago said.

After the board refused to prohibit abortion referrals and family planning counseling, Crago said, four members of the 14-member board resigned -- including McCann.

"This is not an easy thing for an agency to go through," Crago said. "We were very sad to get to a point where there were board members (resigning)."

While disheartened by the diocese's announcement, Crago and Casa Executive Director Gloria Marshall stressed the necessity of providing on-site prenatal care to local women at the new Casa clinic.

Marshall said abortions will not be performed at the clinic, but practitioners will not be prohibited from making abortion referrals.

"The services are full services that are needed in the community," Marshall said. "What we're doing is we have planned to provide comprehensive, nonexclusive services. If a woman comes to the clinic and insists on having an abortion, we will tell her where to go."

Informing patients about all alternatives, Marshall said, is "just part of comprehensive OB care."

Casa Guadalupe will not advocate certain alternatives, Marshall said, but simply "give the decision to the client."

But McCann said including objectionable procedures among alternatives in itself constitutes an endorsement of those procedures.

"To provide that information is de facto endorsement," McCann said.

In addition to the departure of the four board members and the church's nominal support, Casa Guadalupe will apparently lose an annual grant from the church that Marshall placed between $6,000 and $7,000. Crago said it is unclear what impact the diocese's announcement will have on Casa's future.

"I think time will tell us the answer," Crago said.

The church has lent Guadalupe a great deal of support over the years, Crago said.

"We have had a wonderful relationship with the Catholic Church," she said.

However, she added, Casa's talented and dedicated staff and board of directors and "a great deal of community support" may be enough to pull Casa through the struggle.

McCann said the loss of the church's backing will damage Casa's credibility among Catholics in the Hispanic community and elsewhere in its clientele.

"I think it will erode overall the image of Casa Guadalupe in the community," he said. "Many people in the Catholic community may withdraw their support from Casa Guadalupe."

McCann said he hopes Casa will reconsider its decision not to exclude abortion and family planning counseling from its services.

"I would hope that ... the board of directors of Casa Guadalupe might consider reversing that decision," McCann said.

The diocese also announced yesterday that it will begin an OB/ GYN outreach and education program in conjunction with Sacred Heart Hospital. The program, called "La Programa Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe," will target the Hispanic community and offer incentives for women to seek prenatal and postpartum care, the diocese said.